This episode really cements what Dean's life was like: constant peacemaker. It's really no wonder that he has self esteem issues; his wants likes and dislikes were always pushed to the back. I would hazard a guess that if John somehow came back today and listened to Dean being described he wouldn't be able to figure out the person being described was Dean. Heroic? The Righteous Man? Surviving a year in Purgatory? One of the best hunters ever? That's not the Dean he knows.
I forgot to add that I disagree about Dean having any power in the family ; he had none in my view * when Sam and John were fighting *. He had some when it came to being the older brother but otherwise Dean was there to do as John told him.
Oh, I don't think Dean had power when he and Sam were growing up. He didn't have anything to work with then, because Sam's solution to the problem of John was leaving and Dean couldn't accept that.
I think Dean has the power in Dead Man's Blood because his options have changed. John says 'do things my way' and Sam says 'do things our way'. The latter option gives Dean a voice while still allowing him to keep the family together. And how they work really does seem to depend on where Dean throws his support: for most of the episode he says they have to put up with John's habits, so they do; then at the end he says he disagrees with what John wants, so they defy him and John has to agree that they should all work together.
I'm not do sure it's power so much as it's self-empowerment. Dean listens to his gut and makes his decision. Dean has generally some great instincts; something John undoubtably never listened to and suddenly Dean sees he can choose the path that hus instincts are telling him to follow. That a power struggle is going on is really rather irrelevant.
I don't think it is irrelevant, though. That power struggle has been a central theme of the season, and it makes up a lot more of the conflict in the episode than the trouble with the vampires. I think it's important that Dean is the one to resolve it, and I think the story makes it clear that Dean is the only one who can.
While I'd agree that Dean has good instincts, I don't think that's what he's relying on here. When he contradicts John he explicitly says he's been thinking about this - and yeah, he's been thinking about this all season. His whole character arc has led him to the point where he can do this. I think it's important that this be a carefully weighed choice, because that's part of what Dean has learnt from working with Sam: to slow down sometimes, to consider the evidence, make your choice and refuse to back down. That's his half. Sam's half comes in Devil's Trap when he has to chose in a second whether to trust Dean's word or John's. He makes excellent use of his instincts there, because neither of them gives him a
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I would hazard a guess that if John somehow came back today and listened to Dean being described he wouldn't be able to figure out the person being described was Dean. Heroic? The Righteous Man? Surviving a year in Purgatory? One of the best hunters ever? That's not the Dean he knows.
In a way I'd be surprised if John were surprised because I don't think he understands Dean very well at all - he just expects him to do as he's told.
I mean, at the beginning of the season I think John assumed Dean was more competent than he actually was: he didn't want him facing down the demon, but he wasn't worried at all about just tossing him cases to keep him occupied. But at that point there were a lot of aspects of hunting that Dean just wasn't very good at, because John hadn't taught him properly, and it was amazing he survived.
I also think that, while there are multiple reasons why John chose to warn Dean alone in In My Time of Dying, one reason is that John expected Dean to be able to behave just like him - doing the whole secrecy thing
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I think Dean has the power in Dead Man's Blood because his options have changed. John says 'do things my way' and Sam says 'do things our way'. The latter option gives Dean a voice while still allowing him to keep the family together. And how they work really does seem to depend on where Dean throws his support: for most of the episode he says they have to put up with John's habits, so they do; then at the end he says he disagrees with what John wants, so they defy him and John has to agree that they should all work together.
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While I'd agree that Dean has good instincts, I don't think that's what he's relying on here. When he contradicts John he explicitly says he's been thinking about this - and yeah, he's been thinking about this all season. His whole character arc has led him to the point where he can do this. I think it's important that this be a carefully weighed choice, because that's part of what Dean has learnt from working with Sam: to slow down sometimes, to consider the evidence, make your choice and refuse to back down. That's his half. Sam's half comes in Devil's Trap when he has to chose in a second whether to trust Dean's word or John's. He makes excellent use of his instincts there, because neither of them gives him a ( ... )
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In a way I'd be surprised if John were surprised because I don't think he understands Dean very well at all - he just expects him to do as he's told.
I mean, at the beginning of the season I think John assumed Dean was more competent than he actually was: he didn't want him facing down the demon, but he wasn't worried at all about just tossing him cases to keep him occupied. But at that point there were a lot of aspects of hunting that Dean just wasn't very good at, because John hadn't taught him properly, and it was amazing he survived.
I also think that, while there are multiple reasons why John chose to warn Dean alone in In My Time of Dying, one reason is that John expected Dean to be able to behave just like him - doing the whole secrecy thing ( ... )
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